Robin Williams, seen here on the set of "The Crazy Ones" with Sarah Michelle Gellar, made quite an impression on USA TODAY's Bill Keveney. / Richard Cartwright, CBS

by Bill Keveney, USA TODAY

by Bill Keveney, USA TODAY

I have a fond memory of my interview with Robin Williams last year on the set of his CBS comedy, The Crazy Ones.

It wasn't the funny voices, although he delivered them: William F. Buckley, Christopher Walken and a spot-on Jack Nicholson calling him "Robbo." It wasn't the brilliant way he improvised a Tennessee Williams tragedy out of a four-word stage direction: "As they sashay out." ("Ahm going taw'd the light lahk a honey bee to a bug zappah," he said, sauntering across the set like a shattered Southern belle.)

Although those were definitely entertaining, my enduring memory is simply that Williams, who died Monday, came over to talk to me, a reporter, when he didn't have to.

In my experience, on-set interviews tend toward formality. The reporter gets to watch an actor perform a scene and conducts a short interview during a break in shooting. The transaction is cordial, but frequently it is the only conversation with an actor who may be busy memorizing lines, tending to other matters or simply not be in the mood to talk off the cuff with a reporter during a long work day.

So, I remember when an actor takes time to chat informally, perhaps a little more so when it happens to be an Oscar winner. Williams happened by during a couple of breaks, definitely not acting like a stereotypical star, and we ended up in conversation. It wasn't anything deep. We talked about the weather in Los Angeles, where Crazy Ones was filming, and about him wishing he were home in Northern California, where both he and executive producer David E. Kelley lived. At one point, he joked: "He gets to go home every weekend. I'm like, 'Yeah, take me with you.' "

At one point, I told him about an earlier meeting. Years ago, I was watching a comic perform at a San Francisco comedy club when an unseen heckler interrupted his act. It quickly went from annoying to hilarious, as the interloper demonstrated his superiority in the comic arts. It was Williams, of course. He stayed late, talking to fans on the sidewalk, including me. When I told him this story, he seemed more focused on figuring out which club it was than at my delight over the incident. But then, this was my brush-with-fame story, not his.

Williams was funny during the formal interview, although he wasn't "on," as many fans might think would be the permanent state of a man known for non-stop comic energy. The videographer working with me, expecting some of that trademark animated frenzy, noted that he seemed subdued. I think it may have been evidence of the demands of heading your own comedy series, heavy work for someone in their 30s, let alone 60s.

Williams was straightforward with his answers, using comedy as a spice but not the main ingredient. He saw similarities between his Crazy Ones character, a brilliant but eccentric ad executive, and himself: "I think he's had a very interesting life, multiple marriages, rehab. He's an idea guy trying to be relevant in these times."

I was hoping he would do some of his character voices and impressions, but I didn't want to make it seem like I was looking for a trained-seal act. He complied, offering a few choice characterizations.

When asked about people expecting him to be funny, he said, "Once a woman in an airport came up and said, 'Be zany.' It was so weird. It was almost like, 'Dance for me.' I just went, 'I can't, ma'am. I'm sorry. This is my day off.' "

He continued: "There's times when people are very sweet and you'll do something funny, but there's other times when they'll be like, 'Do it.' It's like, 'I'm not always that way. I can't.' It's quiet times, too."

He said he first realized he might have a talent for voices when he was a student. "I did an impression of a teacher when I was in high school. I think that's the first time I realized I could actually do impressions or do other people. And it was the first moment of, 'Oh, this is interesting!' "

His favorite movie voice was Genie from Aladdin "because it was like 32 different voices." His favorite acting role was in Awakenings, where he felt the influence of Oliver Sacks, "this extraordinary man who introduced me to the whole idea that the brain is this incredible organ and all the different aspects of it."

I enjoyed the interview and his thoughtful answers. Mostly, however, I'll remember two guys just chatting about the weather.